Slayers PLUS
by Kuroneko19
Summary: "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet. A strange phenomenon is only the precursor to the events that unfold when Lina Inverse is reunited with a missing relative. Rewrite.
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note: **__Greetings and salutations! Welcome to the revival of Slayers PLUS, the introductory tale for several of my more regularly used OCs and my very first Slayers fan fiction story. I have gone through and improved upon a variety of mistakes and plot holes I had come across in its previous incarnation. For everyone who was already familiar with this tale, I've kept most of the original elements but changed some of the events and instances. I've also toned down some of my original characters to some degree, but rest assured that everyone is still the same, as is the story plot. ^_^_

_Let me know what you think! Please remember that all questions, comments, constructive criticism, and/or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I own nothing from __**Slayers**__. I just like to write. ^_^_

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><p><strong>Slayers PLUS<strong>  
>By Kuroneko<p>

**Prologue: The Desert of Destruction**

The Desert of Destruction was eerily still and silent beneath the silver light of the moon. Long shadows cast by the sand dunes created eerie spectral patterns for as far as the eye could see, twisted and bizarre. The only sounds to be heard were the howling faraway wolves and the sands rustling in the gentle breezes that occasionally picked up.

For the pair of wanderers standing atop of one of the higher dunes, it was either a relief or a massive disappointment that everything was so naturally quiet.

"Are you _sure_ this is the right place?" the taller of the two asked, giving her partner a quizzical glance.

The other girl paused and frowned while overlooking their surroundings. "I think so. We calculated the coordinates, so this should definitely be the spot. But…" She brushed her long dark red bangs aside and frowned even more. "No. This is it. It has to be."

"Don't you think that maybe we should have contacted Inverness and the others before we came out here?"

The former shook her head. "No. Those guys all have jobs now; it wouldn't be fair to have dragged them all out here if this turned out to be another tall tale. Besides –" she gestured at the area around them "– we've got plenty of open space to cause a distraction and get the heck out of here if anything happens."

"I guess you're right," the other girl said slowly. "Still, Ky, I don't have a really good feeling about this place. Maybe we should do this another time, like when it's still daylight."

"And miss out on this magical light show everyone's been talking about? No way!" Kyrie Landis folded her arms and looked up at her companion disapprovingly. "C'mon, Jiima! I _know_ you're just about as curious as I am as to what's going out here. You wouldn't have come if you weren't."

Jiima sighed. "Okay, okay. You got me. I want to know what's out here, too." She frowned a little. "But there's still something about this place that gives me the creeps."

"You sound just like Helmina. What's the matter with you?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "I just don't think we should be out here tonight. Something feels off. Let's go back."

"Out of the question."

"I knew you weren't going to listen to reason," the bespectacled girl mumbled. Whenever there was something out of the ordinary, there was just no stopping that precocious redhead from investigating. "Reckless", "ambitious", and "stubborn" were three ways to describe Kyrie Landis, and that was only when people were being overly polite. "Pigheaded" was closer to the mark in Jiima's opinion.

"You worry too much," said the redhead in question, waving her hand dismissively. "We're only out here to see what everyone was talking about. Odds are that it's probably just another one of those desert mirages that travelers talk about after they've been stuck in the dunes for too long."

"_Right_…" Jiima deadpanned. "In other words, you're just going to treat this as flippantly as you did with that crazy textbook you claim you found a few months ago."

Kyrie raised an eyebrow. Without so much as a second thought, she pulled an aged tome out from an astral pocket and held it in front of the taller girl. "You mean this old thing?"

"Yes, that old thing!" said Jiima, eying the text warily. "I meant it when I said you should have gotten rid of it, Ky. There's something wrong with that thing!"

"And like I said before, it's probably just some old grimoire that was probably left over from some city falling into ruin," the redhead said offhandedly, opening the cover and casually flipping through the first few pages.

"'Old grimoire' nothing! What about those spells you've been concocting? I'm telling you that thing is a –"

"And _I've_ told you already to drop it, Jiima," Kyrie interrupted sharply, accentuating her point further by snapping the text shut and dropping it back into its former astral holding space. "I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, but _I_ don't know what you're doing, and _that's_ the part that scares me," Jiima muttered under her breath. Already familiar with the futility of attempting to get into an argument, she instead slapped on her best game face and said a bit louder, "So what now? Do we look for underground entrances, or just wait out here until something comes after us?"

"You could always play a game of End Catcher in the meantime," a somewhat nasal and decidedly unfamiliar voice suggested. The two girls froze and looked above them.

Overhead, silhouetted against the moon and floating effortlessly in the night sky, was a purple-haired man dressed in clothes indicative of the priesthood. He seemed to be lounging in his spot in the air, a dark staff made of gnarled wood cradled in the crook of his arm and rested atop his crossed legs. He held his head propped up in one hand and looked down at them from behind closed eyes, a grin reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat on his face.

"Uh… what's 'End Catcher'?" Jiima asked quietly, bewildered.

"That's not important, Jiima! And who are you?" Kyrie demanded, attempting to cover her initial shock.

"Oh, don't mind me," the priest replied cheerfully with a wave of his free hand. "Please feel free to do as you like. I try not to mingle with marauders unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Who're you calling a marauder?"

The priest raised an eyebrow. "If you aren't marauders, what would you call yourselves?"

"Tourists," the taller of the two girls responded brightly. "We got bored and decided to separate from our group."

"I don't believe you," said the priest, an even more pronounced grin spreading across his face.

"Tourists, Jiima?" The redhead looked at her companion wryly. "Seriously?"

"What? That's the truth, more or less…"

"Under ordinary circumstance I would find it of minor interest that two young sorceresses are prowling in this part of the Desert of Destruction," the man overhead interrupted. "However…"

"However?" Kyrie prompted.

The priest cracked one eye open lazily. "While I don't believe you're of any particular threat at the moment, I'm not so certain about that gentleman over there."

The girls whirled around in the direction the priest's gaze had landed, and unconsciously took a step back upon seeing a man in a dull moss-colored cloak standing on the dune just opposite. In the moonlight pouring down from above, they could make out the outline of a stern expression beneath the hood over his head.

"Great! Another weirdo!" Kyrie put her hands on her hips in irritation. She missed the sour look that passed over the floating priest's face. "And just who the heck are _you_?"

"No one you need to worry about just yet," said another voice. The duo had to turn again to find yet another man off to the side. He was dressed various shades of brown, and had a large broadsword strapped to his back; dark green hair pulled into a loose ponytail was slung over his left shoulder. His eyes danced with amusement as he smirked down at them from his position.

"_Nazar_?" Kyrie slapped a hand to her forehead. "I might have known. You _would_ have to show up in a place like this, wouldn't you?"

Jiima looked down, noting that a third figure had appeared just behind them at the bottom of the dune she and her friend stood upon. She cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, oh. Weirdo Number 3, present and accounted for. It looks like we've got a werewolf hybrid."

Kyrie let out a loud groan. "A _werewolf_? That's just what I _don't_ need! And I suppose _that_ guy – huh?" She looked up to glare at the priest, only to find that he was no longer there. "Where'd he go?"

"I think it would be best if you focused your attention a little over _this_ way," the swordsman called Nazar chided under his breath, a little peeved at having been ignored.

"Uh, Ky?" Jiima hissed, frowning at the trio in evident confusion. "What's Professor Kenny's henchman doing here? And who are those other two?"

"That's a good question." Kyrie bit her down on her lower lip, not feeling at all comfortable with this new situation. Nazar suddenly showing up in the Desert of Destruction with a mage and a werewolf was just a little too convenient for her tastes.

The sorcerer across from them regarded the two girls with hooded eyes. "This is not the place for battle. It would be in your best interest to surrender quietly and accompany us."

"Oh, _sure_," Kyrie said with a roll of her eyes. "Like we're actually going to believe you three aren't going to pull anything. Especially since we're already acquainted with Mr. Swordsman." She looked back over to Nazar. "If _you're_ here, I take it that means Professor Kendall's somewhere nearby. What does he want this time? I thought I already made it crystal clear that I didn't want anything to do with him anymore."

"Oh, you did," he answered coolly. "It's just that he's decided not to give you a choice in the matter. From what my understanding is, your assistance in this particular endeavor is very much required; Professor Kendall won't be taking 'no' for an answer this time."

"Well, he's just going to have to," she retorted with a sneer. "I don't have the time or the patience to deal with him and his whack job experiments. Sorry, but even _I_ follow a code of ethics. Take that back to the professor and tell him I sent my blessings."

"If you are unwilling to negotiate, we will have no alternative but to use force," said the man in the cloak.

"Yeah, like _that's_ going to work," Jiima deadpanned under her breath. She cast another glance down at the werewolf below before looking back up to the cloaked man. Narrowing her eyes in sudden realization that something was very wrong with the scenario, she muttered, "_Hoc est malum_."

Kyrie dragged her fingers through her pinned up burgundy hair in annoyance as she continued to glower at the swordsman. "You know, Nazar, you have some pretty bad timing. I might have been in a nicer mood if you'd waited to annoy me _after_ I confirmed whether the reports out here were bogus." She put her hands on her hips and suddenly smirked. "Then again, I think I just figured out my answer. Nice trick."

Nazar shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? When conventional methods turn up a dead end, it's time to think outside the box."

"So you guys finally grasped the concept of originality." Kyrie snorted. "I didn't figure the professor would go for something so flashy, but I guess I was wrong." She looked over at his companions and cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. "Honestly, Nazar… Only _three_ people this time? You aren't being serious, are you?"

"I think he is, Ky," Jiima said quietly, casting a quick glance downward as the werewolf below walked slowly in the direction of the other two. She then looked back up at the sorcerer. "That guy in the cloak is certifiably Mazoku."

Kyrie looked at her in a slight panic. "Wait, we've got a _Monster_ here?"

She nodded, still staring at the man in question. "Mid-level is my best guess, but not somebody I feel like playing around with at this time of night."

The younger girl bit the inside of her cheek. Adding a Monster into the equation changed things dramatically. While she was reasonably confident that she and Jiima could handle just about anything even out here in the desert, Kyrie knew that dealing with even a mid-ranking Monster without any backup would be asking for trouble.

They were left with only one option.

"_Mega Brand_!" A large explosion engulfed the small group, sending up loud and angry yells. Jiima hardly had time to react before a petite redheaded blur ran by her and snatched her up by the wrist screaming, "Run for it!"

She had absolutely no problem with that order. Not wanting to waste a moment, Jiima darted quickly after her companion, sparing only one fleeting glance over her shoulder just in time to see something dark, fluttering, and ragged bolt out from clouds of the explosion. "Uh, oh! The Mazoku got out!"

"Try to see if you can get it to back off! I want to try something!"

"Right!" Jiima skidded to a stop and spun around, arms crossed in front of her as the Monster rapidly approached. A split second before the creature could slam into her, the girl suddenly outstretched her arms and vanished into thin air.

The monster screeched loudly and twisted the top part of its body in an attempt to turn. It realized its mistake when it was suddenly captured in previously unseen thin strands of white.

Letting out another screech, the Monster thrashed about wildly, succeeding only in tightening the threads ensnaring it. From behind the binding strands, Jiima grinned at him crookedly, her arms once more crossed in front of her. "Weren't expecting that, were you?"

"_Elmekia Lance_!" One bolt of white sped towards the trapped demonic being, hitting it directly.

"Nice shot, Ky!" Jiima chirped over the Monster's screeching.

"No problem!" she hollered back with a grin, which promptly fell as a sword came crashing down in front of her.

"Stupid girl!" Nazar snarled, still wiping granules of sand from his eyes. "Do you have any idea how _irritating_ that is?"

"Do I look I care?" she shot back. "_Fireball_!"

The sword flying again, this time blindly as its wielder yelled and attempted to shake off the sensation of having a fire-based spell go up in his face. Kyrie managed to dodge it, and promptly threw an additional Fireball at the werewolf coming up from behind his partner.

Overhead, Xellos watched the battle intently, eyes opened and darting about in an attempt to keep up with the girls as he attempted to figure them out.

The one with glasses was by far the more puzzling of the two – she obviously wasn't human. He doubted very much she was a Dragon; aside from the physical details, that bit of quit-witted deception she'd just performed was hardly befitting of a member of the Dragon Race – Dragons in general were more the head-on, brutal type; they lacked subtlety. On the other hand, there was no way she was Mazoku. Even if it was cleverly executed, that string attack positively reeked of white magic bordering on weak holy magic.

The Monster continued to struggle wildly, screeching loudly. Jiima cinched the strands even tighter around it, her brow furrowed in evident frustration.

"Okay, Mr. Rags," she said through clenched teeth, "I think I've just about had it with you. Why don't you be a good agent of darkness and give up so my friend and I can get going?"

The bulbous portion that served as the head of the astral-based creature rose up, and three crimson orbs began to glow. "Little sprite…" it rasped; "You're in over your head!"

Jiima pulled a face. "It sounds like somebody needs to take a chill pill. Luckily for you, I happen to have the prescription: _Holy wind, wind which flows gently across the land, let all things be filled with your pure breath. Van Rehl!_"

Icy tendrils darted up along the threads binding the writhing Monster, covering it entirely until not a peep was heard. Where the thing had been flapping about insanely, only an ice statue with the Monster's form in the center remained.

Jiima dropped the threads and sighed. "Good thing I paid attention to all those ice spells Saitron likes to throw around." She looked over her shoulder and found her companion still throwing several attack spells at the werewolf and the swordsman. "I think I'd better give Ky a hand."

The redhead in question quickly dodged another blow from the sword being wielded by the mercenary called Nazar. "Well, I've gotta hand it to you: you're still pretty hardy for an old guy!" she panted, ducking. "_Fireball!_"

Nazar shifted his footing, dodging attack.

"_Break!_"

He winced slightly upon feeling the spell's remnants hit him in the back. "Aren't you ever going to learn? I've developed a tolerance for those silly little spells of yours!" He lunged again, his blade in one hand. Kyrie managed to dodge again, but missed the long, thin dagger he held in the other.

She hissed loudly as the blade bit into the palm of her right hand. With her left she threw another Fireball, which was quickly deflected by Nazar's sword.

"Not so nimble, are you?" he taunted, tossing the dagger aside. Several drops of blood were instantly soaked up into the sand.

Somewhere in the background there was a short and broken off yelp, followed by a thud.

Casting a quick healing spell, Kyrie winked. "That may be, but I wonder if you're any better."

Nazar snorted, swinging his sword back. "What are you going to do? Hit me with a Damu Bras?"

"Who said _I_ was going to hit you with anything?"

A brief look of confusion crossed over the swordsman's face just before someone trilled, "Night, night!" and a loud _CRACK_ filled the air.

Jiima grinned happily as Nazar sank to the ground. She slung the silver staff she now possessed over her shoulder and gave her companion a quick victory sign.

"Now _that_," she said proudly, "is how you bag a bad guy!"

"Nice job, Jiima," Kyrie laughed, shaking her hand to rid it of the tingling sensation left over from the healing spell.

"Coatl really ought to have listened when I warned him about the sprite." Xellos snapped his head in the direction of the comment, finding the speaker to be a grey-enshrouded figure on his left. "Contrary to what they believe, I think that they _all_ could have used a little more exercise. Ah, well. _C'est la vie_." The man raised up a hand of pale green light. He looked over to the Trickster Priest and appeared to smirk at the Monster from beneath his cowl; a feral silver gaze latched onto the priest's open eyes. "Sorry. Were you interested in taking care of that one?" He indicated the bespectacled girl with a slight tilt of his head.

Xellos merely stared at him narrowly, his lips pursed in a decided frown. Where this stranger had come from or when he'd appeared not even the Trickster Priest could tell; the only shifting he'd felt from the Astral Plane had come from the Monster currently stuck in ice and that odd girl with glasses.

The figure in grey shrugged. "Suit yourself." He looked down at the pale green orb of light in his hand with mild amusement. "A little stronger, I think. Don't want to risk having any setbacks." The orb flared up and blanched into a pale grey color. He smirked a little, allowing the spell to gather a little bit more power.

He was interrupted by a red jewel abruptly being thrust at his throat.

"Just to clarify," Xellos said calmly, catching the man in deathly serious stare, "did I hear you correctly when you called that girl down there a 'sprite'?"

"And here I was just going to let you sit back and enjoy the show." The man's lip curled in an evident sneer beneath the cowl. He clenched his hand into a fist, cancelling his spell. "Beastmaster's infamous General-Priest _would_ have to stick his nose into business that doesn't concern him _or_ his master."

"I'm afraid that's incorrect," Xellos countered. "This land we're on concerns the Monster Race very much. As such, whatever it is you are doing here concerns us as well."

The man scoffed. "You really _are_ a good little lapdog, aren't you?" His eyes shifted slightly off to the side before meeting again with the amethyst shards belonging to the Trickster Priest. He smirked beneath his cowl. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to play around with Beastmaster's messenger boy."

Xellos's jaw clenched as the man promptly vanished without a sound.

Below the seething priest left unnoticed above, Kyrie Landis stretched and looked over to her friend with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Well, Jiima, what do you say to a nice trip to Mipross Island?"

"Mipross Island?" Jiima cocked her head to one side. "Where is that?"

"It's an island off the coast that was once located very near to the continent," Kyrie explained cheerfully. "Legend has it that it was once inhabited by elves, and there are ancient ruins left over for people to explore in. _And,_" she grinned widely, "it's also a five-star rated hot springs resort!"

Jiima's face lit up considerably. "A hot springs resort beats out the desert any day – count me in!"

The redhead pumped a fist in the air. "All right, then! Let's snag Helmina and Saitron so we can get going!"

"What about Invy and Aramis?" Jiima inquired as the shorter girl began to march away. She wondered if her friend even remembered their earlier conversation about everyone now having jobs they couldn't get away from.

Kyrie waved one hand dismissively. "They're boys! Let them find their own way! This is a 'girls only' trip we're talking about!"

"Well, Helmina _is_ always complaining about Aramis being a pervert," Jiima agreed with a giggle, mentally noting that the girl had either chosen to forget or simply didn't care.

"Yeah, and I'll bet there's no getting Invy's nose out of whatever book he's reading, so why bother? Forget them! Next stop: Zoa –" Kyrie froze in mid-rant. She peered over her shoulder with a quizzical look on her face. "Did you hear something?"

In the eerie silence of the desert night, a faint crackling sound could be heard. The two girls whipped around, and discovered the ice cube holding the Monster to be breaking, cracks appearing rapidly. The entire form appeared to shake.

"I thought you took care of that thing," Kyrie hissed, giving her companion an accusatory look.

Jiima's eyes narrowed. "I did…"

The ice suddenly broke, loosing tiny shards of dagger-like icicles in all directions. The two girls quickly shielded themselves. Before either could react beyond simple defense, a loud voice boomed overhead:

"_Astral Break_!"

Jiima let out a loud shriek as the spiraling blast from the Astral Plane slammed into her back. Another blast struck her again, and she flew forward and slammed into the base of a nearby dune, accidentally letting go over her staff and losing her glasses in the process. A barrage of crimson attacks quickly followed, hitting both the intended target and the area around her. Waves of desert sand flew up all over.

"Jiima!" Kyrie moved to aid her friend, but she was quickly halted by an arm wrapping around her neck.

"You aren't going anywhere," a voice said into her ear.

The cloaked Monster floated overhead, an orb of crimson floating in his hand. He leered down at the prone form crumbled at the base of the dune below.

"Little sprite…" he rasped, sounding almost amused. "Time to die!"

He launched the sphere of magic in the girl's direction, the spell streaking towards her at incredible speed. Just before it could hit its target, something black flitted in front of her and a red barrier sprang up in time to shatter the attack.

Jiima had barely enough time to register the fact that she was still under attack when she suddenly realized that someone was protecting her. Looking up to see who it was, she astonished to see that it was the purple-headed priest from earlier.

"Damn you… _Xellos_‽" the Monster bellowed. There was a sudden flicker of what looked like panic over his previously expressionless features. "Y-You interfering pain in the ass!"

'_Xellos?' _Jiima had to squint without her frames; this time her irises and pupils contracted into little more than feline slits whilst gazing upon the priest in front of her. She let out a small gasp of astonishment as the Monster above hurled another attack in their direction.

Xellos swatted the spell aside with a wave of his staff as he regarded the assailant with narrowed eyes. He quickly tossed something in Jiima's direction. She was surprised to find that he'd had her glasses. "I don't think you have much room to talk," he warned. "This area is banned to lower-ranking Monsters such as yourself. Unless you want to face more punishment than what you're currently due, I recommend that you stand down immediately."

Jiima slipped her frames back on. To her slight confusion and that of the priest in front of her, the cloaked Monster chuckled. It raised one arm and pointed a long, thin finger off to the side. "I think you have other things to worry about."

"Damn it, Nazar!" Kyrie yelled, attempting to jab the green-haired swordsman in the abdomen. Xellos and Jiima turned, giving the Monster time enough to escape. "What the hell is your problem? Let me go!"

"Really now, Miss Landis!" another voice said sternly from off to the side. "Would it harm you to be even a _little_ bit civil?" A tall and willowy older man with long silver hair soon shimmered into being just in front of the struggling pair, his arms folded across his chest. He testily tapped against his forearm the dagger Nazar had thrown previously.

The diminutive sorceress snarled and aimed a kick in the other man's direction. "All right, Kendall, just what in the Nine Hells is going on here? What was the point of luring me out into the Desert of Destruction?"

"Specifically, Miss Landis, I needed you and your sprite friend." A pair of tired eyes shifted over to where Jiima crouched. A faint flicker of curiosity lit into the garnet irises upon noticing the priest with purple hair standing in front of her.

Kyrie glanced wildly in her friend's direction before redirecting her sight back onto the robed man. "Fine then – why'd you need the both of us out here? What are you trying to pull?"

Kendall merely smirked in her direction before turning. He held the dagger at arm's length away from him and looked down. He swept an arc in the air with his free hand. From where Kyrie's blood had fallen, a thin beam of crimson light appeared. Underneath the extended blade the light began to spread, creating a large circle in the desert sands. Five points of light appeared along the perimeter, and crimson lines began to extend each one, weaving and connecting and spreading until an intricate pentagram symbol was formed. Words in an ancient language inscribed themselves in the spaces between, and smaller, indiscernible symbols sprouted all over.

Kyrie took advantage of the momentary distraction to slip out of Nazar's grasp. She elbowed him in the stomach and scrambled away.

Reznik Kendall extended his other hand once again, this time with his palm facing downward. With the dagger he cut into his palm, not even wincing as the blade bit into his skin. Several drops of blood splattered onto the outer edge of the magic circle, causing the design to flare up brightly. Magic surged and danced all along the perimeter, bolts of it shooting along the arcs and lines within.

Kyrie slumped several feet in front of the Trickster Priest, eyes wide at the scene. "A blood ritual…?"

"This is ancient magic," Jiima said quietly, suddenly next to him. Xellos looked at her from out the corner of his eye. Her face was lined with sand and worry, and her irises were still contracted into shards. "I recognize the markings. It's a resurrection summoning."

"Resurrection summoning?" Kyrie echoed. "But an ordinary resurrection spell is white magic! This is _black_ magic!"

"I know!" Jiima said. "This isn't like an ordinary resurrection spell or a summoning spell – it's more powerful than the Necro Vuud, the Gaia Graze, or the Vun Ga Ruim!" A gust of wind hit against them as another surge of magic went through the formed circle. The trio braced themselves and shielded their eyes against the waves of sand, wind, and magic pulsations.

Kyrie grimaced as she lowered her arm from her face. To her stunned horror, the pulsations had increased in their frequency and power. "The only spell that would make any sense would be the Ragna Drive, but that's no longer castable!"

The ground shook, and the magic pulsed again. Wind whipped about them furiously, howling. Out of the noise, they could make out the incantation Kendall bellowed at the top of his lungs: "_Magn__us__ spiriti__ aeternam __abyssi__! __Entia __tenebris __qui__ morantur __in __ignota__! __Ego__ vocant__ super__ te__!__Iuro ipse ad te!_"

"'Great spirits of the eternal abyss…'" Xellos muttered, reciting the incantation to himself. "'Beings of darkness who dwell in the unknown…'"

"'I call upon thee… I swear myself unto thee…'" Jiima continued in an awestruck tone.

The two looked at one another curiously just before a surge of green light bolted up from the circle and shot into the sky.

"_Qui equiescat in tenebris, expergisci nunc! __Excutite a artus vestigia invitis somno, et ambulare inter nos iterum!__"_

"What's he summoning?" Kyrie screeched.

Her words went unnoticed, as both Jiima and Xellos were too fixated on the words. "'He who slumbers in the darkness, awaken now…'" They recited. "'Shake from your limbs the vestiges of this unwanted sleep, and walk among us once again…'"

She looked over her shoulder, catching the translation in the din.

There was another surge, and the green light suddenly expired. Kendall's words were lost to them as the winds twisted and weaved into one another, spinning into a column over the circle. Bolts and sparks of raw black magic lashed out violently before letting go in one final, explosive pulse that generate a series of shockwaves over the land.

Silence fell.

Kyrie peered into the darkness accumulating over the circle. Behind her, Xellos and Jiima clung onto their respectable staves.

For a moment it seemed as though nothing would happen. The tendrils of black continued to whirl and crackle with bolts of red and green, and the faint outlines of the circle and its markings could only vaguely be made out.

"Did it… fail?" she heard Jiima practically whisper, awestruck.

There was a low rumble.

The air suddenly went cold as a roar pierced the ruined silence of the night.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Latin translations:<br>**__Hoc est malum – "this is bad"_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Astronomy! The Dangers of Wishing Upon a Shooting Star? [Part I]**

Six months had passed since they'd defeated the ghost of Shabranigdo. With Taforashia awakened and the spirit of the Red Priest finally taken care of, it seemed only natural that things turned out the way they did.

Zelgadis Greywers gave a sigh as he looked upward at the bright starry expanse. It _should_ have been natural, everyone splitting up as they had. Pokota stayed behind to help rebuild Taforashia, just like he'd intended all along. Amelia was supposed to have gone back to Saillune but from what he'd heard, she was still in Taforashia and aiding the reconstruction project, which meant Pokota wasn't alone. That was nice, he supposed. Lina and Gourry had taken to the open road, off on another one of their little adventures; Xellos had disappeared again, to no one's surprise. Where that fruitcake went off to was hardly anyone's concern.

Zelgadis has gone his own way as well, alone as usual. He hadn't offered any excuses, just up and left one evening without saying goodbye, nodding to the Taforashian guards before vanishing into the night. The next morning, he bought himself a small boat and set out to the seas in the direction of the Outer World to explore the areas he hadn't already. He hadn't stuck around long enough to watch the supplies come in from Saillune – he'd heard about that in one of the port towns along the coast. He'd also heard that Inspector Wizer Freion of Ruvinagald had given up on arresting Lina Inverse. That tidbit of news was nice to hear, but Zelgadis had a notion that the old man would eventually find something to pin on the Dragon Spooker and then the fun would begin all over again.

Fun.

There was no denying traveling with Lina Inverse was fun. The insanity that perpetually surrounded her kept them all on their toes, made them think. He could have asked them to come along – it definitely would have made things more interesting. But when it came to Lina and adventures, Zelgadis knew that she'd be more concerned about treasure hunting than assisting him with finding his cure. Their hunt for the Claire Bible was proof enough of that.

'_Or was that _really_ your reason for not asking them to come along?_'

He looked back up at the sky, then groaned and closed his eyes. Who was he kidding? The truth was that he was running out of excuses to leave; disappearing was simply the easiest thing to do. He'd always fallen back on hunting for his cure and the dangers it entailed, but even that was getting to be a flimsy excuse in comparison to everything they all had gone through together. Each time he tried to escape, it just seemed to get harder. Sneaking away, leaving in the dead of night… he was amazed that he was able to get out of Taforashia so easily.

Despite the insane ease of it all, however, it somehow felt… _wrong_, leaving as he had. It always did, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise. That strange gaping emptiness always seemed to creep up on him when he least expected it.

He cracked an eye open. It must have been close to ten o'clock, judging by the moon's position. Who had taught him about using lunar positions to tell time? Was it Rodimus, or had it been Zolf? He couldn't remember for sure, but he was fairly certain it had been Rodimus, given the older man's years as a mercenary before joining Rezo's group. They hadn't all begun as lackeys for the Red Priest, after all.

Rezo.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and listened to the gently crashing waves of the open ocean. It really _was_ a nice night. He shouldn't have been thinking so much.

No sooner had that though crossed his mind, a bright green glow penetrated through his eyelids. His eyes snapped wide open and he bolted upright, staring wildly at the object bolting across the star-scattered sky.

"What the…?" He faltered, his mind trying to register what he was seeing."That can't be a…"

**…**

"Gourry, _please_ tell me you didn't eat that last piece of chicken," Lina Inverse whined, looking only somewhat hopefully at the blond and knowing all too well what his answer was going to be.

"Well, gee, Lina..." he began, "you weren't eating it, so I thought…"

The Bandit Killer groaned loudly. Ordinarily she would have pummeled his head in, but it was too nice of a night and she was really getting tired of reprimanding the swordsman at this point.

"_Maybe it's true, what they say about the Sword of Light draining the brains of its wielder."_

She smirked a little at the memory of that statement. Leave it to Zel to come up with something like that.

'_I wonder what he's doing now?_' she thought, and had to catch herself from frowning. It seemed like every time Zelgadis Greywers wandered off on his own after their adventures, she found herself thinking about him. Despite her curiosity to the subject, she never asked him about his solo adventures. He never told. It was like there was never any time or even the right moment.

Zel was always searching for a cure, a way to turn his body back normal. That was the only thing that seemed to drive him forward, and there were times when it really drove Lina crazy. She couldn't blame him for wanting to turn back to normal – being turned into a three-part chimera obviously hadn't been a pleasant experience, after all – but his obsession with it was maddening. Although she'd never say it to his face even when he deserved it the most, there were moments when Zel reminded her of Rezo, and not in a good way.

In truth, the only difference between Zelgadis Greywers and his infamous ancestor, aside from age and physical appearances, was that Rezo had searched for a way to obtain the sight he never had, while Zelgadis looked for a way to regain what he'd lost.

"Hey, Lina?" She snapped out of her thoughts and found herself looking into a pair of concerned blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back a little as she tilted her head to look at the sky. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you're acting like you're off in your own little world or something. I just thought there might have been something wrong."

"We're being unusually perceptive this evening, Gourry," she said coolly, casting a slightly suspicious glance in her self-proclaimed bodyguard's direction. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing, really," he said, leaning back against the tree. "I just saw you looking all spacey and everything, and that's a not normal look for you."

"Oh." She frowned at that. For Gourry Gabriev to have noticed that something was wrong, she really must have been showing it.

The swordsman sighed audibly. "If I had known how much that piece of chicken meant to you, I never would have eaten it."

"The… _chicken_?"

Out of seemingly nowhere, a slipper went across his face.

"I'm sorry, Lina! I didn't realize how much it would affect you!"

"Affect me? You idiot! What makes you think I'd be upset about a _chicken_? If I had wanted it so much, I would've just beaten you over the head for it!"

"I thought that maybe for once you were going easy on me!"

"_Easy on you?_" The slipped descended once more. "Are you trying to imply that I've gone _soft_?"

"Well, a guy can always hope, right?" Gourry looked up hopefully. His face fell at the expression on her face. "Uh, Lina…?"

"Okay, that does it!" Gourry suddenly found himself unable to breathe as Lina grabbed him by the throat.

"But… Lina… I said I'm…!" '_Ack! I can't breathe!_'

She raised a hand into the air and grinned at the cowering mercenary evilly as the telltale orb of flame sprung up. "Say your prayers, Gourry, 'cause I'm going to Fireball your —_HUH_?"

The Fireball in her hand fizzled out and died. The Bandit Killed did a double take as a bright green light passed over the swordsman's terrified features.

**…**

Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune sighed loudly as she collapsed in the armchair nearest to the balcony. Six months into the rebuilding of Taforashia and the work was still nowhere near being done. Truth be told, it was beginning to get to her.

"_Anyone who thinks being a princess is easy has obviously read too many fairy tales._"

She smiled to herself. Miss Lina had said that to her before she took off with Mr. Gourry again.

'_It must be nice to be able to keep on wandering around so freely_,' she couldn't help thinking enviously. Amelia didn't mind being a princess; after all, it came with its perks... but when it came to all the things that came with the package – envoys, visitations, pacts, politicos, you name it – well, she started longing for the open road again.

'_It isn't so bad this time, though, now that I've got somebody to talk to._'

There was a smattering of laughter from below. Amelia pulled herself out from the chair and walked out to the balcony to see what was going on. She smiled broadly when she saw what looked like a small, hovering stuffed animal waving a stick about in a mock effort to fight an off-duty Taforashian guard who was wielding a sword while a small group of children watched intently.

"Take that, evil villain!" the stuffed animal exclaimed in a greatly exaggerated tone, and lunged. The guard parried and did a fancy twirl before bowing deeply.

"Oh, Prince of the Sleeping Kingdom!" the guard responded with equal exaggeration. "You are far stronger than I had expected! Had I known you were this powerful, I would have brought in my minions!"

"Have you forgotten, you terrible knave? I destroyed your minions before I arrived at your castle!" Pokota made another feigned strike at the guard, who blocked it while trying not to laugh.

"Oh, woe is me! Now I know that I am doomed to failure! Whatever shall I do?"

Amelia had to suppress a giggle. How long had they been acting out this skit? The children certainly weren't growing tired of it. Neither was she, for that matter. _The Prince of the Sleeping Kingdom_ had become a sort of nightly presentation over the past few weeks, and the audiences just kept getting bigger.

'_Pokota is really great around children_,' she thought, and smiled. After the initial shock of discovering Taforashia's crowned prince had been converted to a stuffed animal, life moved on the curious way it always did. While the adults were considerably slower in accepting Prince Posel Korba Taforashia's transformation, the children took to Pokota's current form instantly. That was the beauty of small children: they were quicker to accept things than adults were.

"The choice is yours, oh dastardly villain!" Pokota had finally managed to "knock" the sword out of the guard's hand. The guard in question was currently pretending to beg for mercy, although he looked ready to burst out laughing at any minute. "Repent your evil deeds and join me in my hunt to awaken my people, or taste defeat!"

The guard fell forward and bowed before the hovering Pokota.

"Oh, Great Prince! I repent my evil ways and will follow you without hesitation!"

"All right!" Pokota exclaimed. "Arise, my new companion!" The guard did as he was told, and the prince happily tossed him back his sword before striking what thought was an impressive figure with his stick held to the sky. "And now we shall venture forth to awaken the people of the Sleeping Kingdom!"

"YAY!" the children shouted, clapping and laughing merrily. Pokota and the guard bowed. As Amelia looked on, she noticed that a few of the parents had gathered to watch the skit as well. She was pleased to note that most of them were clapping and cheering with their children.

"All right, kids," the guard announced, gesturing for them to all quiet down. "It's time for everyone to go home and get some rest. No arguments!" He clapped a hand to his head and laughed as the children groaned. "Come on, now! It's already late, and most of you should have been asleep hours ago!"

"But what about the story?" one of girls asked, looking up at the guard with large green eyes.

"Don't worry," Pokota said with reassuring smile. "We can continue it tomorrow."

His brought on a great deal of cheering, which were quickly reduced to unhappy whines as the parents came to round up the children.

"You were great, Dad!" a boy with sandy hair said, running up to the guard. "I thought you made a super bad guy!"

"Thanks, Tyler!" He picked up the boy and gave him a quick hug. "Ready to watch me become a super good guy?"

"Yeah!"

"Randy! Tyler!" a woman's voice called out. "Time to go home!"

"Coming!" the father and son duo trilled. With a wave to Pokota, they walked in the direction of the voice as the rest of the small crowd dispersed.

"Prince Pokota?" Pokota looked down to see the little girl with green eyes peering through her bangs up at him.

"Yeah, Sera?"

"Does the Prince of the Sleeping Kingdom ever rescue a princess and live happily ever after?"

"Well…" he began, searching for an out. Pokota felt himself begin to blush, the question having caught him off-guard. A sudden thought occurring to him, he smiled at the girl and leaned over to her as if he were going to reveal a great secret. "Let's see how the story goes. You wouldn't want me to spoil the ending, would you?"

"Oh, no!" Sera gasped, and shook her head furiously. Pokota laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Prince Pokota! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" He watched she scampered off towards a woman with the same green eyes as hers who was extending her hand for the girl to grab. It was nice, seeing all the families like that. In a way, he almost envied them. His father and he had so much to do in rebuilding their homeland – the most time they could spend together were in fleeting, snatched moments before the day was over.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of clapping coming from above. He whirled around and saw Amelia, who was now waving to him from the balcony of the room she was using as her own during her stay.

"You did great, Pokota!" she cheered.

"A-Amelia?" The blush returned. How long had she been watching? He shook himself mentally and decided to make a sweeping bow, eliciting another cheer and even more applause from the Saillune princess. He laughed and tossed the stick aside before levitating up to the balcony.

"I guess we really had a hit tonight," he said, landing on the railing next to his friend.

"It was terrific," agreed Amelia, still wearing her brilliant smile. "The children are really eating up the story."

"Yeah, but now they want to know what happens next!" Pokota laughed and sat down. "I even had Sera come up and ask me if the prince lives happily ever after with a princess at the end of the end of the story!"

Amelia giggled. "Well, does he?"

"What?" He gave her a panicked look, and responded hastily, "Oh, no! Well, yes, I mean I don't know yet! Uh… can I just say it's a secret?"

"But if you did, you'd sound like Mr. Xellos."

"Oh." Pokota frowned at that. He hadn't seen that crazy priest since the night they defeated the ghost of Shabranigdo, and he hoped to never have the occasion for a reunion. Even though he'd helped Pokota defeat the Dark Lord's ghost, Xellos was just too weird and unpredictable for the prince's tastes. Pokota didn't trust that Monster and he _certainly_ didn't want to sound like him!

"Well, at any rate, I think you should have the prince live happily ever after with a princess," Amelia continued, leaning against the railing. A light breeze had picked up; it felt good against her face. "It would make the story even nicer."

"Yeah, but then it would wind up just like every other fairy tale out there: all that mushy romance and everything."

"What's the matter with that?" She looked over at Pokota questioningly. "Romance isn't so bad. There are a lot of people who like happy, romantic endings. Life isn't like a fairy tale, but as long as there _are_ fairy tales to tell the children, they have something to believe in. Children need that sort of thing and so do the adults, even if they won't admit to it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Pokota frowned again and looked into the room. His eyes fell on the small, leather-bound journal sitting on the desk next to Amelia's bed. Life _wasn't_ like a fairy tale. The both of them knew that all too well. Sometimes your savior was your enemy, and sometimes you had to fight against your friends.

The journal was proof of that, or at least it was going to be. While they had a dozen other projects to head in the reconstruction, that journal was number one on their list. Not long after the others had departed, Amelia and Pokota decided to chronicle the events leading up to Taforashia's disappearance. With so many tales surrounding the kingdom's mysterious disappearance, it seemed only natural that someone should write out the truth. They'd gone up to their fathers, and both Prince Philionel and Taforashia's king agreed to the project. It hadn't been easy. Six months later, the two royal heirs were still researching old records, and Pokota had discovered that everyone had some difficulty remembering what had happened prior to the Durum Plague outbreak. He and Amelia figured it might have been a side effect of the sleeping spell Rezo had used when he sealed the kingdom; without the sage's journals and notes, however, they probably would never know for sure. Taforashia's disappearance was far more complicated than anyone would ever believe, thanks to the Red Priest. It would take a lot of effort to flesh out the true story of the fabled kingdom.

Amelia followed his gaze, and her expression grew solemn. "One day, they're going to read a fairy tale of a different kind," she said softly, and walked over to the desk to pick up the journal. "The ironic thing is that, no matter which way you look at it, the true story about Taforashia sounds more like a fairy tale than anything else."

"Yeah, a _warped_ fairy tale," Pokota agreed, hovering over to where she stood. He chuckled. "Of course, when we get to all the parts about Lina, we're going to have fun avoiding the use of excessive exaggeration."

"That may be hard to do, given Miss Lina's antics," Amelia laughed. It was a nice sound to Pokota's mind.

'_But life isn't like a fairy tale, even if it sounds like one. The savior isn't always the good guy, and sometimes the good guys get knocked down a lot before they can get back up. And the prince doesn't always get the princess in the end…_'

He watched as Amelia put the journal back on the desk and closed her eyes. He was about to change the subject and ask her about her day with the roads project, but anything he might have said to that effect was suddenly washed aside as the Saillune princess and the room were suddenly bathed in an eerie green light.

"Hey, what the –?"

Amelia's eyes snapped open wide, and she looked around in bewilderment. The two locked eyes for a brief second and bolted back out to the balcony. Looking upwards to the sky, they saw the strangest thing either of them had come across since defeat of Shabranigdo's ghost: a bright green streak racing across the starry expanse, leaving a trail of the same eerie colored light in its wake.

Pokota cocked his head to one side.

"Hang on a second, isn't that a –?"

**…**

Sylphiel Nels Rahda sat on parapet basking in the moonlight, enjoying the temporary serenity. The reconstruction project was hard work, but helping people was something she lived for. To Sylphiel, the effort was all worth it.

She heard children laughing down below and smiled a little to herself. It had been a long time since she'd been able to fully enjoy that sound. Ever since the night Copy Rezo had destroyed her hometown of Sairaag, Sylphiel hadn't been able to enjoy the nights and laughter as much. She'd lost sleep over nightmares replaying that fated evening, waking up in cold sweat and hearing the sound of Copy Rezo's insane laughter ringing in her ears even after the vestiges of the dreams had faded away; she'd rediscovered her childhood fear of the dark in the long hours she'd lain in bed, insomniac. For the longest time, she'd been afraid. But now…

She breathed in the night air deeply. She was better now, a few years later. She'd gotten past most of her fears and could handle herself relatively well, even if she was still a little awkward. She'd found her niche in Saillune, and now in the newly awakened kingdom of Taforashia. For her, all was well again.

For the most part, anyway.

She sometimes wondered what it would be like to travel with Miss Lina and the others. She'd only joined them in their adventures briefly here and there, but she was never with them for long. She always seemed have bad timing when it came to joining them – no sooner would they run into each other, there was a terrible catastrophe about to happen, and then it would be all over. Coming in towards the end of things tended to be her biggest problem.

"Oh, well," she said to herself softly, kicking her legs a little as she looked down. There was a small group of children watching what looked to be one of the off-duty guards and a moving stuffed animal acting out a sword fight. Sylphiel smiled – it was so nice to see everyone happy like that, especially the little ones.

'_I wonder if Dear Gourry likes children…_'

She closed her eyes as a gentle breeze blew her dark hair back from her face. Children and her Dear Gourry were two things that could always make her happy. A big part of the reason she wanted to travel with Lina Inverse was because she wanted to be closer to the blond swordsman – he was why she'd attempted to master the Dragon Slave, after all. Being with him made her feel somewhat stronger, and each time they parted ways she tried even harder to be as strong as she could for the next time they met.

She glanced down and smiled even more when caught a glimpse of Amelia talking with Pokota on one of the balconies. It was so nice to see them together, Sylphiel thought. They got along wonderfully, and they respected each other. It was just too bad Mr. Pokota was stuck like that…

'_But at least Miss Amelia doesn't seem to mind._'

She closed her eyes and gently tilted her head back while humming a song her father had taught her when she was little. It such a nice and peaceful night, one of those rare kinds that left the mind opened to all sorts of whimsical thoughts.

Her own thoughts were soon thrown out the window, for a strong green light penetrated through her eyelids, causing her to jolt back into reality. Her emerald green eyes snapped wide open, and she stared at the green streak crossing the night sky, bathing the whole of Taforashia in an eerie glow.

Without a second thought, Sylphiel bolted from her spot on the parapet, heading in the direction of Amelia's bedchamber.

'_I don't know what it is_,' she thought as she ran, '_but it looks almost like it's a –'_

**…**

"Make a wish, Helmina!" the chocolate-haired guard laughed, earning himself a prompt swat over the head from his blonde companion.

"Grow up for once, would you?" Helmina Ulcourt admonished. She slumped back against the cold stone outer wall of the royal palace's northern lookout tower and folded her arms, all the while looking at her comrade sourly. "Honestly, Aramis. We're supposed to be keeping an eye out for that merchant caravan, not _stargazing_!"

Aramis Dawes-Trask stuck his tongue out at her before returning his gaze up the green streak in the sky. "Lighten up, would ya? Besides, just look at that thing! Pretty weird, don't ya think?"

Helmina glanced upward with a frown. "Yeah, but what can you do about it? Maybe it's something that shows up every once in a few hundred years."

"Only Inverness would know _that_ kind of thing."

**…**

Inverness Hoary sneezed, causing the pages of the aged tome in front of him to flip over. Rubbing his nose and sniffling, he frowned upon realizing that he'd lost his place.

It wasn't as if it mattered, he thought ruefully as he closed the book entirely, the action creating a small gust of years-old dust across his desk. Looking out the window of his second floor location, he couldn't help but think that any attempt on his part to trace information on that strange green streak crossing the sky would be futile. The moment the eerie light had caught his eye, he'd dived into his nearest astrological and astronomical texts. Despite his near-photographic memory for trivial information, he could find absolutely nothing even hinting to such a strange phenomenon. The only information his reference material could provide was what he already knew: that enormous blasts of magic could very often create wild and fantastic spectacles seen from across a continent if powerful enough. Anyone who studied magic even briefly knew that.

Inverness wasn't too surprised by this revelation. Considering this tiny kingdom had been locked away for well over a decade, updated information was understandably – if not somewhat infuriatingly – difficult to come by.

All the same, it irked the man that he knew nothing about that thing in the sky. While the object seemed innocent enough, the unsettling feeling in his gut that told him that it was more than it appeared.

**…**

"It's an omen," said the elder, his face turned skyward. The others sitting round the campfire nodded mutely, all very much in agreement to his statement.

The small group of nomadic seers had at long last settled in this part of the kingdom of Lyzeille, just south of Krimzon after a week's stay in the temple dedicated to Ceipheid at Telmoord. In another day they would reach Sairaag, where they would set up another weeklong camp and offer prayers to the Flarelord for a blessing upon the land before beginning their work on reconstructing the lost Magic City. If the Lady of Fate saw their attempt as futile, they would make their way back to the Coastal States in hopes of being granted permission to exchange work for land to settle on.

In this small clearing in the forest their small party had lain down for rest, the elder and his four-member council having stayed up to discuss their plans for permanent settlement. No sooner had they begun, the evening sky lit up with an eerie glow as a strange green streak bolted across the expanse, having come from the very direction in which they were headed. By now almost everyone in the caravan had awoken, and many were gawking openly at the enigmatic sight.

"Should we take this a sign to turn back?" inquired the youngest of the council, looking to the elder worriedly. "Perhaps now isn't the time to return to Sairaag."

The elder let out a low hum of consideration. "While it is difficult to say what omen it may be," he said after a moment, "it may be wise for us to proceed to Krimzon as opposed to Sairaag."

"This isn't the first time such an omen has presented itself," said another member of the council.

"Ayuh," said yet another. "It was maybe two years ago when the Holy Tree Flagoon died and began to rot away. We made plans to settle there even then, and we were forced to turn away because of an ominous sign."

"It is perhaps in our best interest that we abandon Sairaag altogether," said the third member of the council, an aged man whose eyes had been burned out years ago as punishment for an unfavorable vision. Feeling the eyes of the others upon him, he continued: "The Holy Tree Flagoon fell shortly after Sairaag was destroyed. After an even shorter period of time, Hellmaster Phibrizzo met his downfall, and the land continued to rot. It is safe to say that the Magic City has long since been forsaken by the gods. We would do well to offer only our blessings and move onward to a more favorable location as had been previously suggested."

The elder nodded slowly. "Yes. It would be best…" He looked up at the retreating streak and frowned, his brow furrowed. "It would be best…"

Only one in their party did not openly gawk, nor did she offer any speculation to the rapidly populating gossip. Saitron Eluveitie instead sat upright on the cold stone next to the weeping willow, her face tilted towards the sky. Though she could not see past the folds of the black cloth over her eyes, she could feel the light against her, the shift in the wind and the change in atmosphere; she could hear distinctly what each person said.

The elder called it an omen. Saitron had never been one for dramatics; she called it a precursor. Semantics aside, it was obvious that streak in the sky meant nothing good.

She didn't have much of a chance to think further on the matter – a hand clasped over her mouth, and something yanked her back roughly. The only thing she knew afterwards was an unfamiliar darkness.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Astronomy! The Dangers of Wishing Upon a Shooting Star? [Part II]**

A clawed hand reached out and swiped at the air. A pair of glowing red eyes set in a hulking form burned through the trailers of darkness.

Opening its fanged maw, the creature let out another wail.

"What _is_ that thing?" Ky shrieked, staring at the creature in the circle wildly. "It isn't old Ruby-Eye, is it?"

"That would be impossible!" Jiima clenched her hands tighter around her staff, trying to rationalize the situation despite her own horror. "Shabranigdo's fragments were scattered and sealed into human bodies! I don't know _what_ this thing is, and I'm not so sure I want to at the moment!"

Xellos merely stared at it in mute shock, his eyes wide and disbelieving. All coherent logic and rational thought on his part scrambled about furiously for some kind of explanation, succeeding only in generating more questions than answers. There was nothing he could grasp at, no evidence to support what he was witnessing. It was like the Dark Star incident all over again – Valgaav joined with the dark lord of the Black World passed through the priest's mind in the ghost of a memory, faint but somehow still tangible.

This time, however, he had no resources at his immediate disposal.

"In this dark vacuum of space, I laid myself to rest and dreamed," a deep, rumbling voice issued forth, shaking the ground beneath them. "And in my dream I saw a horror beyond all horrors, a dream that turned into a nightmare."

Kyrie Landis suddenly found herself locking gazes with the great demon, her citrine irises meeting the shining rubies floating in the dark shadow above her.

"The burning light of optimism, the light that I see in your eyes… this is very much like the nightmare that tried to consume me."

Ky stood frozen in place by sheer terror. She couldn't make out the creature's figure, but the eyes… gods, the _eyes_!

"_ELMEKIA FLAME_!"she yelled, pulling herself from her momentary paralysis long enough to hurl the spell at the monstrosity. With a dark chuckle, the beast made a motion in the shadows and white streak vanished entirely.

"Child's play," it said in amusement.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She felt her jaw drop. "W-what kind of demon _is_ this thing?"

The creature laughed. "Demon? Not quite. You're close, but you aren't there just yet."

"Then what are you, pray tell?" Xellos demanded, finally finding his voice. There was something in this creature's presence, faint though the pulsating darkness surrounding it, that struck a chord somewhere in his subconscious.

"You mean not even _you_ can recognize me?" The beast sounded somewhat surprised, but nevertheless amused. "I must have gotten better at this in my solitude. Here, allow me to throw you a hint."

There was a flicker in the ruby orbs. The shape began to morph. None of them could tell what it was at first, but when it happened again, the priest gritted his teeth together and clenched his staff in sudden and horrified realization.

"Nice trick, isn't it, Xellos?" The voice that came was different, almost childlike; deceptively innocent yet at the same time mocking.

The Trickster Priest found himself unable to respond as he stared at the alternating red and green orbs in the abyss, the shape no longer crablike and massive, but instead some cryptic beastlike form outlined in black. Its body danced with splotches of light.

Overhead, the green streak pulsated.

**…**

"Well, what do you know – a shooting star," she said, somewhat dumbstruck as she let go of her grip on the mercenary, who fell with a loud _thump_.

"_That's_ a shooting star?" Gourry asked as he rubbed his bottom.

"Yes, that's a shooting star!" Lina erupted. "I would think even someone with the brains of a _jellyfish_ would recognize a shooting star when they see one."

"But, Lina, who's ever heard of a _green_ shooting star?" Gourry looked up at the object in question with a frown on his face. "I thought they were supposed to more… well, _white_."

"Well, now that you mention it…" The sorceress frowned and cast another glance at the darting object overhead. "I guess it _is_ pretty strange. I wonder what's caused it."

"You mean _you've_ never heard about anything like it?"

"I don't know _everything_, Gourry!" she said, looking at him incredulously. "There _are_ some things that I've never heard of."

"Yeah, but it's really rare when you _don't_ know something," he pointed out. "And every time _that_ happens, I get scared."

Lina sighed. "Look, even if I don't know exactly what it is, I don't think it's something we should concern ourselves with right at the moment. As long as it isn't anything even _remotely_ similar to the pillar of light that gateway opening into the realm of Dark Star gave off, I'm happy to write that thing up there off as some strange celestial phenomenon."

"Pillar of light?" Gourry frowned. "What's a Dark Star? Can you see it from here?"

The urge to slap herself on the forehead was not resisted. He _would_ have to go and forget all about that mess with Valgaav and the Overworlders. Typical. It was a daily chore for Lina to have to explain things to her self-proclaimed bodyguard, and there were some days when she longed to pass the chore off onto another person. _Sylphiel_ certainly wouldn't have minded being in charge of the swordsman for a day…

"Supposing it _is_ a shooting star…" he continued, raising one eyebrow curiously. "What do we do then?"

"Why don't you make a wish on it?" she suggested in a tone practically dripping with sarcasm. "Everyone _knows_ that when you make a wish on a shooting star it's destined to come true."

"Really?" Gourry looked a bit doubtful, but he liked the sound of wishes coming true.

She looked at him sourly. "You mean you've never heard of that?"

"Maybe. I might have, but it was probably one of those things that I never paid attention to," Gourry admitted, rubbing his head nervously while laughing.

"Why am I _not_ surprised?" said Lina, a sweat-drop hanging over her head.

**…**

The last time he'd really thought about shooting stars was when he was still working for Rezo. It was always when they were in a village, after the Red Priest had worked his fabled miracles and they'd taken care of bandits and marauders. One of the kids would always find a shooting star and point at it and then all of the children would grab at them – him, Zolf, Rodimus, Dilgear, and even Noonsa – and start shouting at them to make a wish.

None of them would ever take it seriously. They'd watch as the children screwed up their small faces in concentration, and hang back making mock wishes of their own, some of which were best left unrepeated in mixed company.

Zelgadis had always wondered if there was a truth in making a wish on a shooting star. He'd asked Rezo about it once before, having seen his great-grandfather wishing along with the children one night, but the answer the Red Priest had given him was somewhat ambiguous:

_"__Only the most heartfelt wishes are those which come true, but sometimes it's difficult to say what it is our hearts desire most."_

Zelgadis sat gawking at the strange spectacle overhead for a moment. It had been a while since he'd really looked up at a shooting star. He'd seen plenty of them having traveled for so long, but he hadn't given any consideration to them since his "transformation".

"Only the most heartfelt wishes…" He closed his eyes and shook himself mentally. What was he thinking? Wishing on a shooting star was a child's belief. Why would he want to do something so ridiculous _now_?

Damn Rezo. The Red Priest didn't _need_ to be alive to continuously torment a person. A mere memory was sufficient enough.

"Even so…" he muttered, casting a glance at his reflection in the undulating waters. "If I had to make a wish, I'd wish that I wasn't going at this all alone."

**…**

"Miss Amelia, did you see that?" Sylphiel's voice rang out as she ran into the princess's bedchamber.

"Miss Sylphiel!" Amelia exclaimed, turning to see the former Sairaag shrine maiden rush in flustered. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm all right," Sylphiel assured her breathlessly, slowing to a halt at the princess's side. "But that green light! What is it?"

"You two really get excited easily don't you?" Pokota interrupted, chuckling. He hopped onto the balcony railing and pointed to the subject in question. "It's just a shooting star, that's all."

"But a _green_ one?" Amelia looked at it doubtfully.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? Strange things are always going on around here. You know that."

"I suppose so…"she frowned at the object in question. "But I'm not entirely convinced that that's an ordinary shooting star."

"Well then, there's only one way to find out," Sylphiel said cheerfully. The two royal heirs looked up at her quizzically.

"And what's that?" Pokota asked flatly. His mind was leaning towards a very juvenile notion.

"To see if it really is a shooting star, we each make a wish on it and see if our wishes come true!" she stated.

As he'd feared, his instincts were right on the money. "You mean you still believe in _that_ old tale?"

"Of course!" Sylphiel replied. "I think it's worth a try, don't you?"

"I suppose there wouldn't be any harm in it…" Amelia began. Pokota turned to gawk at her. Catching his look, she giggled nervously. "All right, I admit it's a bit ridiculous at my age, but I don't see the danger of making a wish on a shooting star. After all, we _have_ been working really hard."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Oh, please, Mr. Pokota!" Sylphiel leaned forward and looked at the prince-turned-stuffed-animal with sparkling emerald eyes. "Isn't there something you'd like to wish for?"

"It might be fun," Amelia added, giving him a sunny smile.

"No way!" Pokota huffed, and turned his back on them, folding his arms. "You won't catch _me_ doing something _that_ childish."

"Please, Pokota?" Amelia begged. "You've been working the hardest out of anyone here. Doing something childish outside of the play might actually be good for you."

The prince merely huffed in response.

The two girls pouted a bit but chose not to argue with him any further. Instead, they looked skyward and watched the light shooting across the expanse.

"You know," Amelia giggled, leaning against the railing to keep an eye on the streak, "I haven't tried wishing on a shooting star since I was a little girl."

"Neither have I," Sylphiel admitted. "My father and I used to stand outside and look for them when I was younger."

"Daddy used to do that with me, too!" Amelia smiled broadly at the memories. "Okay, Miss Sylphiel, are you ready to make a wish?"

"Absolutely!"

Pokota cast a cautious glance over his shoulder to see what the other two were doing. He couldn't help but pull a face when he saw the both of them bowing their heads and clasping their hands over their hearts. _'__Talk about ridiculous._'

**…**

"I really ought to thank you all for your help," the creature continued in a mocking tone as it shifted back into its original appearance. "If all of you hadn't been here tonight this never would have been possible."

"I knew going out into the Desert of Destruction in the middle of the night was a bad idea," Jiima muttered. "I'm beginning to think I should start checking my horoscope."

"So _you're_ the Astral Sprite?" The creature snorted. Jiima froze as it gazed down at her intently, its dark eyes bleeding back into their original red. "To think that after all this time there'd be another one… Not that I'm surprised, but I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed. You don't look a thing like your predecessor."

"Predecessor?" The sprite in question frowned, confused. "What are you talking about?"

'_An _Astral_ Sprite?'_ Xellos' eyes widened and snapped in the girl's direction. _'But that's…'_

"_ASTRAL BREAK!_"

Another spiral came out of nowhere. A bright blue light flared up, engulfing the spell. "Okay, okay – you're out to get me! We get the picture!" Jiima frowned over her shoulder. "Really, people, can't you show a little patience?"

"Screw patience – would everybody just cut it out with this cryptic nonsense already‽" Ky finally snapped. "This is getting ridiculous!"

"I quite agree," said Xellos. Jiima gave a start at his voice, suddenly realizing that he had been next to her the entire time. Not even bothering to spare the sprite a second glance, he stepped up towards the monstrosity before them. "While it would be customary to congratulate you on your… return to the land of the living, I'm afraid I can't extend that courtesy."

The ruby orbs that served as the creature's eyes rolled in their sockets and settled down on the purple-headed priest. "What's the matter, Xellos?" it asked with a chuckle. "Don't you know what to do with me?"

"Let's just say that I don't entirely believe you are who you insinuate."

The creature burst out laughing. To the three standing opposite beneath a practically obliterated sand dune, the sound was reminiscent of something between cackling and sandpaper grating against wood. "Oh, I get it! Your hands are tied! Is that it?"

Taking advantage of the pair's distraction, Ky backed away slowly. "Jiima!" she hissed. Jiima looked over to her and scooted away as well. "Some night, huh? Talk about crazy."

"From zero to insane in rapid timing," the older girl agreed. "While I'll admit that Mipross Island idea sounds better than ever, do you think it would be a good idea to leave now with the way things are?"

"Even if my hands were, as you say, _tied_," Xellos said with a smirk, "that doesn't necessarily mean I couldn't make things difficult for you."

"Is that so?"

"I don't think so," she said with a frown. "Whatever that thing is that Kendall summoned, it can't mean anything good. And I don't know who that priest character is, but I don't want to leave one person behind to handle all this mess. At any rate, I don't know if we can trust him. People turning up out of nowhere earn a red flag in my book. "

Jiima gave the purple-headed man a wary look out of the corner of her eye. "So what do we do? This isn't something we usually handle."

Ky set her gaze on the creature in the circle, which was still staring down the priest in question. "First order of business: take care of that thing. Then we move on to the other creeps."

"And how do we 'take care of' _that_?" Jiima hissed, gesturing at the currently occupied monstrosity. "Hit it with a double-whammy sleeping spell?"

"Have you got any better ideas? I'd use a Dragon Slave, but I'd need a power boost to be able to cast another spell after that!"

"I don't think a Dragon Slave would do it…" Jiima said slowly. "Now that I think on it… I _might_ have a trick up my sleeve…"

Ky raised an eyebrow. "And what might 'it' be?"

To her surprise, the sprite winked. "Just watch. And distract that thing for me, okay? And think of a backup plan in case I mess up."

Before the redhead could even begin to protest, Jiima vanished. She blinked at the place the bespectacled girl had been, bewildered. _'What's she going to do?'_

"You have no idea how funny I think this is, Xellos," the creature continued. "I bet that brain of yours is working overtime just trying to grasp the situation!"

"_Supreme king with the frozen soul! Grant me the power of your icy rage!_" The two looked over in the direction of the incantation. "_Dynast Breath!_"

Xellos quickly jumped aside as the spell hurled at its target. Said target looked a bit stunned just before the attack made contact, tendrils of ice rapidly spreading over its body.

"You're kidding, right?" it asked incredulously, shaking off the spell.

Ky shrugged from her spot behind the priest. "Hey, it was worth a try."

"_Anna-gurax_… _ozu-lu-faam…_"

"A holy spell?" Xellos murmured, his brow furrowed. He switched his sight onto the Astral Plane in search of the incantation's source.

"… _izul nax orumudohl…_" the voice continued."_Ray Freeze!_"

The creature in the circle let out a loud squawk of surprise as a golden light surrounded and enveloped it. Onlookers could only gasp as the light folded onto the monstrosity and encased it firmly.

When the light died, the creature was oddly still and silent. The only indication that it was still very much alive was the wild and angry look in its eyes.

"It… stopped moving…" Ky blinked at the strange sight. "Just what the heck did she _do_?"

There was a loud cheer from above. "All _right_! I actually pulled it off! Yay, me!" Xellos frowned as the bespectacled girl overhead twirled her silvery staff around while grinning insanely. "I can't believe I actually did it! And Aramis said I was useless! Bully for him! _I did it!_ Ha ha! Whee!"

Ky snapped herself out of her reverie and directed a livid glare skyward. "All right, that's enough patting yourself on the back!" she yelled over the cheering. "When this all over, Jiima, you have a _lot_ of explaining to do!"

The girl suspended in midair fumbled her staff and nearly dropped it. Clutching the glinting item firmly in her hands, she looked down and cocked her head to one side. "Explain what?"

"That spell," the other said pointedly. "And what's an _Astral_ Sprite?"

"Uh…" Jiima cast one fleeting, panicked glance at the priest, who looked at her with equal expectation, before plastering on another grin. "Well, let's just say that I've seen that spell enough times to know how it works. As for the whole sprite thing…" She laughed nervously. "A sprite is a sprite no matter what the classification!" And she gave a smart salute as if to solidify her point.

Xellos noted that she swayed a little as she did so.

Her gesture, however, proved useless. "Don't give me that copout! It matters a _lot_ when somebody starts showing up and demanding something specific! It ordered Astral Sprite, and _you_ happened to be on the menu! Don't tell me that's a coincidence!"

Jiima's face fell. "Observant as ever. I guess nothing stays a secret for long." She looked down over at the immobile creature below. _'Well, at least that thing's taken care of. Talk about creepy. Huh?_'She cocked her head to one side and looked past the beast itself, at the circle. Jiima frowned. _'Wait… when did the images shift?'_

Her vision trailed upward, where a line of eerie green light shot upward and arced overhead. _'Just what is that, anyway?'_

"I was under the impression that holy magic could only be cast by priests and priestesses of the gods." She looked over her shoulder at the voice. Unsurprisingly, it was the priest. "At least that's how it's always seemed in my experience."

"If a person is patient enough, they can learn practically anything once they set their mind to it." Jiima slapped on a quick grin. "You're the one who blocked an attack on me when I was down. Thanks." She turned around fully and stuck her hand out. "I'm Jiima, by the way."

"Xellos," he replied cordially, giving her a slightly cautious appraisal before accepting the proffered appendage.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Xellos," she returned, gripping onto his hand firmly. Her grin widened. "And now that that's settled, I guess I don't have to feel too bad about tricking you." Xellos looked down and raised one eyebrow in slight amusement. Sure enough, she'd ensnared him in the very same string spell he'd witnessed in the prologue. His limbs were bound, and he found himself even unable to shift onto the Astral Plane.

And judging from the mild irritation he felt seeping into where the strands held him, it was indeed a strangely powerful white magic spell that she was using.

"Wow, you didn't trust him after all," Ky commented from below. "Guess I wasn't the only one." She shrugged and looked around at her own level. She frowned after a moment. "Hey, where'd Kendall and those other guys go? Don't tell me they left already! Cowards!"

"They must have left after Kendall summoned that thingamajig in the circle, while we were distracted," Jiima suggested, tearing her eyes from her captive. "I don't sense them anywhere."

The girl below threw her hands up in exasperation. "Great! That Kendall never changes! Stir up dirt and leave the mess for someone else to deal with – typical!"

"So it's just us then." Jiima's face faltered upon turning to find Xellos looking up at her in amusement. "That's a very good move of yours. I almost didn't notice it." He closed one eye and smirked. "But did you honestly think I wasn't expecting something like this?"

She glanced out of the corner of her eye, discovering a set of small black whirlwinds poised just behind her and waiting to strike. "Wow. Didn't see that one coming." The Cheshire grin returned as she slid her gaze back over to him. "So what's the game? Try to see who wriggles out of this predicament first? You do realize that I have backup."

"If you're referring to that young lady down there currently holding a Fireball at bay, I'm afraid she needn't bother. Even though I can't move thanks to this binding spell of yours, I can still cause quite a bit of damage."

Ky frowned upon hearing a slight whirring noise behind her. Turning around warily, she discovered one of the conical whirlwinds hovering just behind her. "It looks like we've reached an impasse," she said ruefully as she put out the spell with a grimace. "Damn."

"Quite so." Xellos looked over his shoulder and let go over the magic supporting the impending attack. That girl was no fool. "Now then, Miss Jiima." His smirk grew even more as he looked back at his captor. "What will you do?"

"Isn't it obvious? Turn you into a priest-cicle, of course."

He blinked incredulously. "_Huh?_"

"Or send you off to Dream Land." Jiima winked. "What? You didn't really think I'd let you bully me into letting you go, did you? Sorry, but I don't think I should do that. The best I can offer at the moment is freezing you here so my friend and I can take care of things and escape before the spell wears off or you break out of it. Maybe we'll duke it out some other time, ne?"

"How about in Hell?" suggested a grating voice.

"Oh, no. I don't think I've done anything bad enough to wind up – eh?" The two froze, startled. "Uh, oh…"

"Jiima?" Ky frowned at the suddenly tense forms overhead. "Is everything okay?"

"Not used to something you can hear but not sense, huh?" The Trickster Priest felt the sprite's grip on his hand tighten. "Dear me, Miss Sprite. Don't you remember this game? We played it in the Temple of Shurai not all that long ago."

Xellos looked at her in silent demand of an explanation. What he was met with were a pair of wide electric blue eyes staring past him with transfixed horror and a face drained of its color.

There was a sudden blast of energy from the Astral Plane. With the binds Jiima had placed on him, the Trickster Priest was unable to escape. Tendrils of blinding white suddenly engulfed his vision as both he and the sprite were hit with the tremendous force and sent reeling.

Everything was white. No matter where he looked it was still as though someone had wiped the world clean and left it a colorless void.

And, somewhere in this eerie realm, he thought he could hear a scream.

**…**

"Come on, Gourry, it's already late!" Lina whined impatiently. "If we don't get to the next town soon we're going to have to camp out again, and I _really_ want to sleep in a bed tonight! Honestly, are you going to take all night to figure out what you're going to wish for?"

"Well, Lina, if I want my wish to come true, I want it to be a good one," Gourry defended, folding his arms.

"Knowing you, it can't get any better than an all-you-can-eat buffet," Lina muttered sarcastically, although she couldn't deny that she hadn't entertained the thought herself. "Why don't you just wish for a sword that won't break each time you use it?"

"Ha! I've got it!" He clapped his hands together and smiled. "Okay, I wish for a – OW!"

Once more the slipper descended upon his head, and this time he actually caught a glimpse of it. It was a fuzzy yellow one.

"You idiot!" Lina brandished the slipper in front of his face. "Don't say it out loud! It's bad luck if you do!"

"It is?" Gourry looked up to see her glaring angrily at him. "Sorry…"

"Well, now that you understand –" She whipped around and pointed to the retreating green streak. "Let's make our wishes!"

"_You're_ going to wish, too?"

"Sure, why not?" She shrugged nonchalantly. "I may as well, considering it was my idea to begin with."

Gourry smiled widely. "That's great! And now that there are two of them, we don't have worry about the star having to choose who it wants to listen to! I call the one on the left!"

Confused by this cheerful exclamation, Lina turned around again and looked upward.

**…**

Pokota looked again at the other two a moment later and made a slight face. They were still wishing.

"_Life isn't like a fairy tale, but as long as there __are__ fairy tales to tell the children, they have something to believe in. Children need that sort of thing and so do the adults, even if they won't admit to it."_

He sighed and turned to watch the slowly faded by green trail in the sky. _'Who needs to wish upon a star?'_ he wondered with a frown. _'I got what I wanted – I resurrected Rezo the Red Priest and brought back Taforashia with the help of my new friends; we eradicated the Durum Plague, and now my country's finally getting back on its feet. What more could I want?' _He looked out of the corner of his eye and stole a glance at the still-wishing Amelia. He gave a slight smile and closed his eyes. _'Well, I know I probably can't ever get my human body back, but even like this I still want to be close to her. Heh. I guess that's pretty silly, isn't it?' _

His thoughts were interrupted by girlish giggles.

"I guess you decided that wishing on a shooting star wasn't so childish after all, Mr. Pokota," Sylphiel laughed as Pokota turned to find both her and Amelia staring at him.

"Hey, that wasn't a wish!" he said defensively, his face burning with the realization that he'd been caught in his ruminations. "I was just… just thinking, that's all!"

"Of course you were," Amelia said, covering her mouth as her shoulders trembled.

"Hey, cut it out! This isn't funny! I'm telling you, it wasn't a wish!" Pokota yelled, hovering over the two girls as they exploded in new gales of laughter.

**…**

There was a sharp yank at his wrist, and Xellos vaguely felt the rest of himself being pulled along. The white suddenly unraveled and the thin strands abruptly shattered, freeing him. The Trickster Priest was barely cognizant of his situation before realizing that he was falling. Without time to collect himself, he slammed into the ground. Stars filled his vision, replacing the darkened backdrop of his surroundings before dissipating and leaving him with ruined sand dunes. Something landed next to him.

Using his staff for support, Xellos pulled himself up and looked over to the sprite incredulously. All along the exposed flesh of her arms, neck and face ran lacerations and burns. There was a large gash in her right shoulder, and her left thigh had been slashed at as well.

Jiima smiled at him wanly as she attempted to pull herself up using her own staff. "Don't look at me like that. You stopped that raggedy monster from landing a hit on me earlier. Consider this my way of repaying you. "

"Well, it looks like you're more resilient than I thought," the creature in the circle remarked, sounding almost amused at the pair's plight. Its ruby eyes glinted as it stared down at the girl with glasses. "I guess I underestimated you."

"You shouldn't be talking with that spell on you," Xellos stated, taking a step back. He winced and clutched onto his left shoulder. Evidently he hadn't escaped the previous attack unscathed.

"I don't think that thing's an ordinary demon. I can't think of any demons that'd be able to break through a holy spell." Jiima let out a hiss. "Either that or I'm really not ready for spells of that magnitude."

Ky looked at the other girl's injuries wildly, her mind just barely registering the fact that her friend was standing up with a large gash and several lacerations and not even bleeding. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," Jiima responded with a forced grin. "But I think that there's a lesson to be learned in all of this." She removed her hand and bit her lip upon seeing the blackened astral space beyond the lacerated skin and cloth. "Pretty lights can kill you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Special thanks go out TheGuineaPig3 and Steven P.P. for their reviews on the previous chapters. I truly appreciate the feedback and I apologize for not being able to respond to you individually. Thank you so much for your input! Happy Easter, everyone!_


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